It’s my honor to serve the people of Yolo County in my second year as a Yolo County Supervisor. I am fortunate to serve as the 2024 Board Chair for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and have helped guide the Board’s deliberations as we navigated a challenging budget year, and now, a change in leadership as we recruit a new County Administrative Officer.

My District includes the UC Davis campus, the western half of the City of Davis, the City of Winters, and the farmland of southwestern Yolo County to the western border of the Yolo County. For this Focus on Davis edition, I provide a few highlights of projects and issues from throughout 2024.

Walnut Park Library

Since 2014, the Mary L. Stephens Library — the only library in the City of Davis — has been operating at maximum capacity.

With no room for expansion at the current location, I am thrilled the new Walnut Park branch in South Davis will complete construction in 2026. The new location will provide relief for overcrowding at the Mary L. Stephens Library, and increase access to library and community facilities for Davis residents.

Thanks to contributions from the California State Library, Yolo County, the City of Davis and Congressman Mike Thompson, construction for the Walnut Park Library is fully funded. The voters in Davis will consider Measure T, an increase to the current annual special library tax measure of $49 per parcel, on the Nov. 5 ballot.

If approved by voters, the measure will provide funding for the sustainable operation and maintenance of both the Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library and the new Walnut Park Library, including hours of operation, maintenance, collections and community programs and services.

All revenue from Measure T will be locally controlled and can only be spent on library services and facility maintenance.

When I visit Yolo County library branches in the City of Winters, Yolo, Clarksburg, and elsewhere in the county, it’s clear they serve as hubs for the community.

The effort to reduce capacity issues at the Mary L. Stephens Library and expand services to a growing Davis community has been a team effort with federal, state, county, and city partners. We now have an opportunity for the broader community to support our libraries, which serve as one of our greatest equalizers.

Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative

Gun violence is a public health epidemic in this country and is currently the number one killer of children and teens in America. Last year my office, in partnership with District Attorney Jeff Reisig, launched the Yolo Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative (Yolo GVPC).

The purpose of the Yolo GVPC is to establish countywide communication channels, share resources, data and other relevant information and create an actionable plan to proactively prevent all forms of gun violence in our communities. Our goal with this work is to be preventative verses reactionary to gun violence.

The Yolo GVPC uses data and a public health lens to determine root causes of gun violence and implement best practices solutions to address the needs of Yolo County and its cities.

This year we hosted trainings on Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO), learned about federal gun violence prevention legislation, the intersection of gun violence and domestic violence, and trauma informed care for gun violence survivors.

First 5 Yolo

One of the true highlights of my service on the Board of Supervisors is that I also have the privilege of serving as Chair of First 5 Yolo.

Originally funded by the statewide Proposition 10 ballot initiative, which added a 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarette sales to fund programs promoting early childhood development for children ages 0-5 and their families, First 5 Yolo’s mission is to assist our community to raise children who are healthy, safe, and ready to learn.

One of our current programs is Welcome Baby, which is offered free of charge and on a voluntary basis, has received support for three years with funding from Yolo County’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Welcome Baby is designed to offer extensive support to new parents, ensuring they receive the necessary resources and aid during the crucial postpartum phase, promoting birth equity. The program’s emphasis on early intervention and comprehensive assistance is pivotal in fostering the health and well-being of parents and infants in Yolo County.

This significance is underscored by a report from UC Davis’ Health Equity Across the Lifespan (HEAL) Lab, which evaluated Welcome Baby’s first-year outcomes. The report is accessible at www.YoloCounty.org/WelcomeBabyReport.

Women in Leadership

This year I had the great honor of launching the Yolo County Women in Leadership initiative with Supervisor Mary Vixie Sandy.

I have long been an advocate for supporting women in leadership, both in elected and appointed positions. This was one of my top priorities I highlighted when I was sworn in as a Yolo County Supervisor in 2023.

Females make up more than half of the total population of Yolo County (51.3%), and we need to work collaboratively to create a county culture that promotes and sustains the well-being of women and girls in Yolo County.

We convened female leaders, allies, and champions for women in Yolo County to learn more about County Commissions on the Status of Women and Girls and the valuable role Women’s Commissions play to serve as gender advisors for local government and as a connector for women to each other, and to the Board of Supervisors.

They often help answer the question “how are the women in girls doing in our County” and elevate the response to decision-makers.

The gathering also offered an opportunity to gain feedback from participants, including their thoughts on short-term actions with high impact to benefit women and girls in Yolo County, ideas for speakers if we were to launch a speaker series, and outcomes that could be achieved through a Yolo County Commission on Women and Girls.

Transportation

Solving transportation issues has been a focus area of my elected leadership over the past decade and continues in my current roles on the boards of the Capitol Corridor passenger rail service and the Yolo Transportation District (YoloTD).

One of the issues I’ve heard loud and clear from my constituents is “fix the roads and bike paths”! This summer Yolo County repaved County Road 31 between County Road 98 and I-505.

Making improvements to this heavily used corridor was one of the top concerns I received from constituents in both Davis and Winters. I’m grateful to the County Public Works staff for prioritizing re-pavement of this important transportation corridor.

This year, we successfully advocated for a $105 million grant award for the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements project which will enable construction of a new express lane in each direction across the Yolo Causeway between Davis and West Sacramento.

The new express lane will be free for transit and carpools with three or more people. Solo drivers and those with one passenger can use the lane by paying a toll. The plan calls for toll revenues to be reinvested in increased transit service across the busy corridor, discounted transit passes and an equity program to assist low-income travelers and neighborhoods adjacent to the freeway.

This will be one of the first — if not the first — freeway tolling project in California to explicitly dedicate expected toll revenue to programs reducing vehicle miles traveled and improve transportation equity. Construction is expected to begin soon with the new lanes expected to open in 2028.

Community Convenings

One my favorite roles as an elected leader is the opportunity to bring people together for shared learning, relationship building and problem-solving. A few examples of this during the past year include:In response to many constituents reaching out with concerns about the prospect of no longer having the option for a landline with AT&T, I hosted a town hall meeting where residents from throughout Yolo County could hear directly from AT&T about the proposal, ask questions and share concerns.

I hosted the inaugural Yolo County Environmental Roundtable bringing together 70 individuals and organizations working on environmental protection, conservation, and restoration from throughout Yolo County to strengthen existing relationships, build new partnerships and share updates and create opportunities for collaboration and innovation.

In partnership with Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza, the Yolo County District Attorney, the Davis Police Department and community partners, we co-hosted an educational forum on Domestic Violence Awareness. This event provided members of the community with education, awareness and resources around the topic of domestic violence and provided attendees with information on how to recognize the warning signs of domestic violence, how to take action to protect themselves and loved ones, and how law enforcement and our justice system respond to domestic violence calls and cases.

As we near the end of 2024, I sit in gratitude for our shared community and the many partners who help make Yolo County an incredible place to live, work, and play. I look forward to continuing to serve our diverse communities in the year ahead.